Tibet Odysee (Changsha-Chengdu-Lhasa-Ali)

**moilami** · 07-04-2010, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by tokyokid

why was i living in Shenzhen before?

You said it! I have nothing against China and stuff, but the fact remains that there is the land of the Elves too, that is Europe. I just don't fancy that much to see Mordor e.g. China

Now waiting for someone to shoot me because of my opinion xD

**bigdamo** · 07-04-2010, 11:09 PM

[QUOTE=tokyokid;14912]Right before Gerze (改则) we had one of this moments on the trip you dont forget so fast.

Until this point of the trip we had 3 times problems with the police and could make our way out on all of them.
As we don’t had any permissions to be in Tibet at all, I usually just drove trough checkpoints at high speed and without stopping. At checkpoints in Tibet the barriers are half open, so pedestrians, bicycle and motorbikes can pass, but car, busses and trucks need to stop. When I saw the barrier was down I found usually a way to drive around it.
But this time it would be different :)

We made it already 2800km into Tibet and where right before Gerze in the Ngari area.
I know a checkpoint would come soon. As it was evening and we drove westwards the sun was low and shining right into my face. I saw the checkpoint coming and saw the barrier was high open so I speed up, just in the last moment when the sun was covered by the checkpoint building I saw, there was another barrier right behind the first, and it was CLOSED! Fuck! Full crash, bike me and the wife where down. When I saw up a machine gun was pointed at us.
As it was 17th September everything was on high alert because of the 60th Anniversary of China on 1st October.
Some minutes later the situation got easy and we where sitting inside explaining what we are doing here. They didn’t believe our story that were on the way to Germany over Pakistan and Iran, but after we showed them the trip reports in Chinese magazines from 2008 they got relaxed. After they called the headquarter they told us we don’t need any permissions as we are individual travelers and not a group, only groups need permissions. What a bullshit, but hey we are lucky.
After we got tea and cookies from them I thought hey it’s a lucky day, try a bit more. So I asked the soldier if I could have is machinegun for a picture, he sure, and handed it to me. Just before my wife can make the picture the main police officer comes in and start shouting on the soldier why a laowei has a gun in his hand…so no photo :(

Anyway from that day on at every checkpoint I just stopped, pulled my driver license, registration and my wifes ID out and showed them to the soldiers, they usually just registered us and off we could go.

This bike and another just like it where bought in Ti bet.Two Europeans where traveling through ti bet with out the appropriate paper work and got caught and where deported having to leave there bikes behind the now owner of the bike bought it(for a dam good price I might add) in Ti bet and took it back to Gansu.

That's what I was told anyway. I have no reason to not believe them.

**jape** · 07-05-2010, 12:46 AM

Great additional pics and stories mate, thanks. The wide open spaces at the top of the world, I love silence and that would have suited me. I wonder how those folks in the mud huts live? They must walk miles for fresh water and fodder. Maybe they sieve the salt and transport it?

**tokyokid** · 07-05-2010, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by bigdamo

This bike and another just like it where bought in Ti bet.Two Europeans where traveling through ti bet with out the appropriate paper work and got caught and where deported having to leave there bikes behind the now owner of the bike bought it(for a dam good price I might add) in Ti bet and took it back to Gansu.

That's what I was told anyway. I have no reason to not believe them.

Man, just short before this trip I been to jail in China. That was really good to know the risk involved and what could happen if something goes wrong.
If you want to be an adventurer and see things few people have seen, than you need to take certain risks, otherwise just watch TV. Always know how much your are willing/able to loose and than take your risk according to that.

**tokyokid** · 07-05-2010, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by jape

Great additional pics and stories mate, thanks. The wide open spaces at the top of the world, I love silence and that would have suited me. I wonder how those folks in the mud huts live? They must walk miles for fresh water and fodder. Maybe they sieve the salt and transport it?

there is some salt industrie at some of the lakes, but very little as its too hard for the han workers up there
i think the locals get there water from the small freshwater rivers and most of the time you can melt snow :)
none of the towns up there beside Ali have running water, so no shower too. your lucky when you find a hotspring

**tokyokid** · 07-05-2010, 10:51 AM

Kiang (wild donkeys) The tibetians dont like them too much, they say the Kiang eat all the grass away that they need for there animals.

Sometimes you wonder, your in nowhere and see people walking around :)

The valley is full with hundreds of Kiangs

Lucky dog

It dont look like, but this pass is 5255m high.

Antilopes crossing our way.

Cool kids. They where really polite.

The Gang Tise Range/ Transhimalaya.
We want to cross it tomorrow. No way on the maps but we heard some rumors that there should be some kind of way down south to the G219

The tiny town of Yare +31° 29' 35.29", +82° 20' 9.52"